Effect of Newegg, Amazon, Buy.com, etc upon small computer shops ?

[steve2470]

I was getting my computer assembled at my favorite local shop the other day, when the owner engaged me in a long conversation about Newegg versus the realities of running his business. He made the main point that Newegg and Amazon and other online retailers like them are making it very hard for small guys like himself to survive. I have to admit, I felt pretty sorry for him.

Does his experience jibe with yours or a small local shop you frequent ?

[Syrinx]

1. yep

For years and years I've mainly dealt with one local guy, and more recently his newish business partner. First at a store called Alabama Computer Associates, and later at a store called T & G Professional Computing. I remember being real excited one day when I went by ACA and bought a 40 megabyte hard drive. It seemed so huge!

I've bought at least four entire systems from them since 1999, when I bought an AMD K-6 II 450. It was a Friday afternoon and I had just got paid. I had been saving up to buy a new computer for a few months. I remember when I counted out the twelve hundred-dollar bills, a twenty, a ten, and single... plus nineteen cents, I think, he said "it's turned out to be a good week after all." We all had a good laugh.

I was saddened when, the other day, I rode past the T&G store. I'm not sure, because the traffic was pretty heavy, but I think I saw, out of the corner of my, a big sign on the building that said "Bakery." (Disclaimer: I love bakeries too.)

I worry about this trend often. And it's not just about computer stores. More and more, everyday, corporate giants are sucking up everything. It makes it much harder for an individual to use their particular skill to produce income and support themselves. It's the exact mirror image of theoretical communism, except that it is very real.

Same way with tv shows like "American Pickers." I like the show and watch it all the time. But people, since ancient times, have been making a living by "picking." I used to have an uncle (actually, he was a tertiary cousin, but he seemed more like an uncle) that was a picker. He made a living. He certainly wasn't rich, but he owned a home and a car, and all that good American Dream stuff.

"American Pickers" has become a pretty popular show. Mike and Frank seem like nice fellows. But I bet the real pickers out there hate it, because I bet it makes their job a whole lot more challenging... harder. The History channel, Hearst, Disney, and NBC-Universal made it harder for many, many people out there to make a living.

Sorry. I didn't mean to go off on a rant. But, yes, his experience jibes with mine.

[struggle4progress]

2. There's a small local chain I sometimes use: they have seven stores, all in my state,

and for some items they really beat everybody else

My use of newegg primarily means I don't buy prebuilts from apple or dell but build or modify my own

[Old and In the Way]

3. I've bought a few boxes over the years from my local Computer shop.

I don't do it for the value - I know I'm paying more for relatively less bang than I could get from a Newegg/Tiger/Amazon type retailer. But they deliver one thing I absolutely need - in store service. If my business computer goes down - I can bring it in and know I can leave the same day with an operating system - even if it's not my box. That's happened only a few times over the past 10 years...but that's the value proposition that keeps me a customer. Buying monitors, cards, storage - I buy those on line because he's just too expensive and doesn't carry much in the way of options.